Welcome back to Throwback Thursday! This is the place where we get to indulge in nostalgia and wax poetic about excellent metal of years past. Today we mark TBT number 33, continuing what is now 'Power Metal April', with a band whose exploits brought a niche genre to a worldwide audience.
DRAGONFORCE'S Inhuman Rampage
Release Date: January 2006
Record Label: Roadrunner
Dragonforce are a London-based group created by Sam Totman and Herman Li in 1999. Originally known as DragonHeart, the band changed their name to Dragonforce after releasing their initial demo song "Valley of the Damned". Inhuman Rampage is their third studio album. As soon as Dragonforce hit the scene, their sound was distinct enough to immediately separate them from their peers. Li and Totman, the two guitarists, create a sonic maelstrom of fire-branded guitar intensity that simply blows your hair back. The sheer speed of these musicians, backed with paralleled ferocity of Vadim Pruzhanov on keyboards and Dave Mackintosh on drums, made Dragonforce an instant force to be reckoned with. While obviously talented, Dragonforce didn't quite hit the 'big times' until the release of Inhuman Rampage. Even though their two previous efforts share the same intensity and spirit, Inhuman Rampage features a song which was picked up by the immensely popular video same sensation Guitar Hero. After the song "Through the Fire and Flames" was promoted as the fastest and most difficult track to play on Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, Inhuman Rampage went from niche offering to worldwide phenomenon. "Through the Fire and Flames" was eventually certified a gold single, and Inhuman Rampage hit global music charts. Here is the official music video:
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySdLh_B3HjA][/youtube]
"Through the Fire and Flames" is the ultimate example of Dragonforce . It showcases the best of what the band offers throughout their career. Dragonforce became known for combining power metal with speed and guitar 'tricks' full of personality. For example, it's rumored that Herman Li broke his guitar string at 7:15 and kept the noise in the final recording. It's easy to believe, as the track is chockful of whammy-bar pulls and vibratos that, to the ear of any seasoned guitarist, sound like the strings being pulled to their absolute maximum.
Inhuman Rampage is exciting to listen to for that reason. Many in mainstream music hadn't heard the likes of such guitar antics since Van Halen. Similar nuances are found in fan favorite off of the album "Operation Ground Pound":
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ywxm6zLEjFY][/youtube]
Thanks to Inhuman Rampage, Dragonforce sprung into popularity and joined tours with Mastodon, Disturbed, and Slipknot.
However, not all was smooth-sailing for Dragonforce. Despite their technical skill and popularity, they found themselves the butt of jokes for the 'metal trueist'. But, how come? Why does the hardcore metal community relegate Dragonforce into a more often that not dismissed group? Perhaps they were viewed as inauthentic, jumping onto tours with unassociated acts while surfing the wave of their Guitar Hero stardom. Dragonforce even quipped that they're a fit better into a genre of their own making – extreme power metal. They're also accused of lyrical inauthnticity, as many of their songs revolve around epic ideas and dramatic imagery fitting of fairy-tale battles and stories.
Dragonforce have also been accused of being a 'one-trick' pony. They have had a string of releases which admittedly, are sonically very similar. Here's our review from their 2014 release Maximum Overload that echoes a similar sentiment.
Here's the deal: With Inhuman Rampage, power metal became mainstream and people reacted negatively. With increased exposure comes increased opinions and scrutiny from folks who believe what they believe. For anyone familiar with the genre, you'll know that throughout every vein of power metal you'll find similar kinds of high-fantasy imagery often backed with surging positivity and grandiose metaphors. The atmosphere created by power metal, and Dragonforce, is nothing short of fantastic. The music demands that the listener escape with the band into a head space filled with distant lands and impractical ideas of chivalry and heroism, and that fighting for truth and justice are the ultimate acts of self-actualization. Unless you as a listener are willing to take that trip, the music will annoy you. As I've discussed in previous TBTs on the subject of power metal, the genre is often dismissed as corny and too over-the-top to be taken seriously. And that is why the triumph of Inhuman Rampage is so remarkable – millions of people discovered power metal and gleefully took the trip. Inhuman Rampage is silly, it is dramatic, and it is 'too much' – and people loved it. Woven throughout the Lord of the Rings-esque drama on this album are themes of comradery, pursuing the idea that togetherness will make the impending doom easier to defeat. Check out track found on the Inhuman Rampage special edition "Lost Souls in Endless Time":
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEoDZpjNVC8][/youtube]
The lyrical content isn't woven together with subtlety or even finesse at some parts. In a way, the bluntness adds to the freight train that is Dragonforce, and Inhuman Rampage hits the listeners ears like a guillotine of sound and imagery. Frankly, it's kind of endearing. Also, their name is Dragonforce. If you didn't expect that kind of music, that's on you.
While Inhuman Rampage isn't my personal favorite release by Dragonforce (Sonic Firestorm is), it is one important to the world of metal and for the band as a whole. If you don't love 'woah-oh'ing off into the sunset on the back of an impossibly fantastic creature, Inhuman Rampage will not be for you. For the gearhead fans of Dragonforce, Herman Li's signature guitars from Ibanez are a must-see.
This is the EGEN18 in color Dragon's Blood (of course). If you want to play like Li or Totman, this guitar features deep-cut horns and low-profile pickups that don't get in the way of your furious double and alternate picking. For the cool price of $2,999, you too can Dragonforce.
